Wednesday, July 8, 2026


Lee Joon got incredibly honest about his past relationships in the latest episode of JTBC's 'Love War' that aired on the 7th. 

While the cast was discussing a story about a man struggling because his girlfriend wouldn't stop bringing up marriage, Lee Joon blurted out, "I can relate to him 100%," catching everyone's attention. This led Lee Hyori to ask him, "Have you ever had a girlfriend who pressured you to get married?" Lee Joon replied:

"Quite a few. Every time they talked about marriage plans, I felt like my heart was being squeezed. It really hurt, and I felt a lot of pressure." 

He explained that while he understands where they're coming from, constant talk about marriage only makes the pressure build up until it becomes unbearable. He even confessed that he has broken up with someone in the past simply because he wasn't ready for marriage, saying:

"I don't think it's right to make promises you can't keep. Saying you'll get married just because you're in a good mood or because you want to smooth things over at the moment is just irresponsible."

In this episode, Lee Joon also opened up about his dating style. He revealed that when he argues with a partner, he focuses strictly on facts rather than emotions. He said, "Even if my girlfriend cries, I calmly explain the facts."

He also made it clear that he has some very strict dealbreakers, noting, "I don't think I could date someone with extreme mood swings or someone who completely cuts off communication after a fight. I like somoene I can trust."

Interestingly, he explained that even though his MBTI personality type heavily leans toward T, he turns into a total softie when he's actually with his girlfriend. He admitted, "My voice gets higher when I'm talking to my girlfriend." 

Previously, Lee Joon dated actress Jung Somin for around three years. The two originally met on the set of the 2017 drama 'My Father is Strange.' The couple officially announced their breakup back in 2020. 

Lee Joon confesses he broke up with an ex-girlfriend over marriage pressure

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TWICE's Sana is officially making her acting debut on the big screen, taking on her very first acting role 11 years after she first entered the entertainment industry as an idol.

On the 8th, Korean media outlet OSEN exclusively reported that Sana recently received an offer to star in the upcoming film 'Nyangi' (working title). Her agency, JYP Entertainment, immediately confirmed the news:

"Sana has confirmed her appearance in the new film 'Nyangi'."

 

'Nyangi' is a major Korea-Japan co-production, and Sana will star as the female lead alongside famous Japanese actor Takeru Satoh. It will be directed by Kwon Hyukchan and produced by Korean companies Cokes and NPIO, along with Japan's JACON. Filming is set to begin in Japan later this year, and the entire production crew will consist of Korean staff members.

For anyone unfamiliar with Takeru Satoh, he is best known for playing the lead role in the famous Rurouni Kenshin live-action movies and has a huge fanbase in Korea thanks to hit shows like Netflix's 'First Love' and the Japanese adaptation of 'Marry My Husband.' Because he is known as a master of romance, fans are incredibly excited to see his on-screen chemistry with Sana. 

Meanwhile, Sana's shift into acting is a big step for the group. Since their debut in 2015, TWICE has kept all nine original members without any changes. Even after ten years together, they are still incredibly popular worldwide. Recently, the members have started expanding their personal careers alongside their group music activities, with Dahyun, Jeongyeon, and now Sana leading the way. 

However, group activities are not stopping anytime soon. TWICE is currently in the middle of their 'THIS IS FOR' world tour, and they will be holding their final encore concerts from the 10th to the 12th at the KSPO Dome. 

TWICE's Sana confirmed to make her acting debut alongside Takeru Satoh

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

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Former MOMOLAND member Hyebin recently spilled how the K-pop industry actually works financially.

On the 6th, Hyebin posted a video titled 'Why Idols Don't Make Money' on her Youtube channel and completely stripped away the glamorous illusion of idol life. She started off by saying, "It's been over 10 years since I became an idol. A lot of people wonder how much idols earn," and added:

"People think idols make a lot of money, but that's not the case."

Then, she broke down the infamous trainee debt system. A lot of people assume that trainee life is totally free, but Hyebin clarified that unless you are lucky enough to be at a Big 4 major agency, it absolutely isn't.

She explained, "While you're a trainee, the company charges you for your lessons, meals, housing, and even practice room rentals. In simple terms, it's a 'pay later' system. So when you make your debut, you already owe them hundreds of millions of KRW," and added:

"People think you'll start making money once you debut, but you only do if you become successful."

To show what it's actually like, Hyebin revealed that even though MOMOLAND won first place on a music show just two years after debuting thanks to their hit songs 'Bboom Bboom,' 'BAAM,' and 'Thumbs Up,' it didn't immediately turn into profits. She admitted:

"At the time, we were called 'the miracle of a small agency idol group,' but that didn't mean we were making money yet."

The math behind it is honestly crazy. Hyebin broke down the financial structure, explaining, "Basically, idols split all expenses with the company. That includes song production, music videos, managers' salaries, gas, hair, and makeup."

Hyebin also revealed that a single music video can easily cost hundreds of millions of KRW. She explained, "The company pays half, and the other half is divided among the members." She confessed that because of this system, she ends up being responsible for tens of millions of KRW every time she films a music video.

She even broke down how festival and event appearances work, and the math is incredibly depressing. Hyebin described how income from these shows is divided, explaining, "Even if an idol group receives around 50 million KRW (which is around $32,700) for an event, you first split that with the company, then divide the rest among the members."

After subtracting for the hidden costs behind every performance, the actual money she takes home shrinks drastically. She revealed, "After taking out hair, makeup, styling, meals, transportation, and other expenses, I end up taking home about 2 million KRW (which is around $1,308) per event."

To make matters worse, that small chunk of event money doesn't even stay in your pocket. Hyebin added, "That money gets reinvested into the next music video."

It took MOMOLAND two years to finally hit it big, and during that time, they filmed four music videos. "The company probably invested billions of KRW in us," she explained. Because of how the system works, the members don't see any of that cash upfront. She revealed:

"We don't receive settlements until the members have paid back all of that investment."

Reflecting on just how intense the industry is, Hyebin dropped some real numbers, saying:

"Among the general public, only the top 1% become trainees. Of those trainees, only the top 1% debut. And among those who debut, only the top 1% actually make money. I wasn't part of that 1%."

Sharing an update on her life today following MOMOLAND's official disbandment in 2023, Hyebin revealed, "Right now I don't have much work, so I'm doing YouTube. YouTube has become my new job."

Meanwhile, MOMOLAND actually held a fan meeting in Japan this past March while trying to balance their own solo projects and group activities. 

Former MOMOLAND's Hyebin shares the financial reality behind K-pop idol life

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2PM's Nichkhun recently shared how far he went to change his image because of comments he read online. 

On the episode of SBS' 'AGJ' that aired on the 6th, the 2PM members (Jun. K, Nichkhun, Ok Taecyeon, Jang Wooyoung, and Hwang Chansung) showed up as a full-group and dropped some funny, honest stories from behind the scenes. 

The hosts brought up Nichkhun's legendary visuals from the group's debut era back in 2008. They looked at his old photos and talked about how much attention his looks received at the time. Wooyoung also agreed, mentioning, "We were completely amazed by his visuals back then." 

However, the conversation took a very blunt turn. Host Tak Jaehoon asked Nichkhun, "People have been teasing you lately for gaining weight." Lee Sangmin also asked, "I wanted to ask that too. Why have you gotten so chubby?"

Nichkhun replied, "A video of me from a while ago recently resurfaced on Youtube. If you watch it, I look like a completely different person compared to how I look now." He explained:

"At the beginning of the year, I didn't have many schedules, so I decided to go back home to Thailand and ended up eating way too much."

He continued, "After seeing that, I thought, 'Wow, I really am getting older.'" Apparently, he was so shocked by how much attention his weight gain was getting online and decided to take action.

"Right before our recent concert in Japan, I lost weight by eating only three eggs over the course of three days."

The recent discussion about his weight started in May, after 2PM's official YouTube channel uploaded a new video. Fans noticed his fuller appearance compared to before, and it quickly became a popular topic on online communities.

But honestly, Nichkhun looks great now as 2PM is celebrating their 18th debut anniversary this year. The full group is scheduled to meet fans at their '2026 2PM Concert 'THE RETURN' in INCHEON' this coming August at the Inspire Arena.

Nichkhun opens up about the comments he received online because of his weight gain

Monday, July 6, 2026

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Actor Jisoo's school bullying scandal back in 2021 caused absolute chaos, and the mess from his sudden exit from the KBS drama 'River Where the Moon Rises' is finally over, but it's costing his old agency a fortune. 

According to the legal community on the 6th, Jisoo's former agency, KeyEast, withdrew their final appeal to the Supreme Court back on June 25. Because they dropped the fight, the previous court decision is now final, meaning KeyEast has no choice but to pay the drama's production company, Canvas N (formerly Victory Contents), a staggering 880 million KRW (which is around $573,900) in damages.

To understand why the damages were so high, it helps to look back at the situation behind the scenes when the bullying allegations first surfaced online. Jisoo admitted to some of the accusations and voluntarily stepped down from the show while it was literally still airing. 

The biggest issue was that filming had already been finished all the way through episode 18 of the 20 episodes. Since they had no choice but to reshoot everything, the production company brought in Na Inwoo at the last minute to replace him and save the show. 

They had to re-film almost the entire series while keeping up with the broadcast schedule. Na Inwoo took over starting from episode 7, and they reshot everything from that point forward. Once things finally calmed down a bit, they went backward and re-filmed episodes 1 through 6 just to keep the whole show consistent. 

Because of the massive extra costs, Canvas N sued KeyEast for 3 billion KRW (which is around $1,957,200). They argued that they suffered severe financial losses from having to redo everything from scratch, including extra staff costs, location and equipment rental fees, cast fees, art department expenses, and a ton of other production costs. 

The legal battle went back and forth for a while. At first, the court agreed with the production company and ordered KeyEast to pay 1.42 billion KRW (which is around $926,400). But then, when the case went to a higher appeals court, that amount was cut down to the final 880 million KRW. 

Since Canvas N wasn't happy with that reduction, they tried to take it to the Supreme Court, but the court completely dismissed their request. Now that KeyEast has also dropped its own appeal, this long legal battle is officially over, leaving the agency with a very expensive bill.

Jisoo's former agency ordered to pay 880 million KRW over his sudden exit from 'River Where the Moon Rises'

U-KISS' ex-member Lee Junyoung just opened up about a brutal experience he had to go through when he first started out.

On the 6th, tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block' dropped a preview for its upcoming episode on their official Youtube channel, showing Lee Junyoung looking back on his days promoting in Japan.

He revealed, "The other members were already fluent in Japanese. Meanwhile, I went over there knowing only three phrases: 'Good evening,' 'Hello,' and 'Thank you very much.'" He described the whole situation as 'brutal,' and then, it got even worse from there.

He recalled having his company dropped him off in the middle of Shibuya and told him to find his own way back to the dorm:

"It was only a 15-minute walk, but I couldn't speak the language and the company had also taken my phone. What should have been a 15-minute walk ended up taking me four hours."

Lee Junyoung explained that the company dumped him right in front of the iconic Tower Records. After he crossed the street and walked farther uphill, he completely panicked because it was his first time ever visiting Japan:

"Right then and there, I realized I absolutely had to learn the language. It was incredibly frustrating because I could only say those three phrases."

 

The only saving grace was that he at least knew the dorm address, which was in Kamiyamacho. With no phone and zero navigation, he had to keep stopping random people on the street and asking, "How do I get to Kamiyamacho?" Thank god he made it back safe and sound.

Lee Junyoung recalls getting lost in Japan after his agency took his phone

Sunday, July 5, 2026

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Wonder Girls’ ex-member Sunye just opened up about her past, giving everyone a reality check on what the idol industry is like.

On the episode of MBN’s ‘Dongchimi’ that aired on the 4th, Sunye appeared as a guest alongside comedian Paeng Hyunsook, singer Shoo, and Ha Wonmi to talk about the heavy theme, “I never knew it would be this hard to live as myself.”

During this episode, Sunye gave everyone a life update after completely stepping away from her Wonder Girls days to raise three daughters. She shared, “My oldest daughter is already in the first year of middle school,” blowing everyone away with how fast the time flies. 

Hearing this, host Kim Yongman pointed out, “You're both a mother and an idol. A lot of people were disappointed when you stopped promoting.” That’s when Sunye got honest about how hard motherhood can be. She admitted:

“The phrase ‘it’s hard to live as yourself’ didn’t really resonate with me before. Before becoming a mother, my life revolved around me. But after having children, everything in my life became centered on them. My priorities changed. That’s when I realized just how difficult it is to truly live as yourself.”

For over a decade, people have been dying to know the real story behind her early marriage. Sunye finally addressed the question she always gets: "How could you give everything up when your career was at its absolute peak?"

She explained, “I achieved my dream at a young age, and my life changed dramatically. But at the same time, I also experienced the deaths of my father and grandfather. That led me to think deeply about life from a young age.” She added:

“Being on stage may be a glamorous profession, but I realized that the most important stage in my life is living my own life.”

She continued, "I started being a mom a bit earlier than most after getting married and having kids," and” added, “But since it was the path I chose, I decided to embrace it and just enjoy the ride."

When you look at the timeline, Sunye actually promoted with Wonder Girls for about five or six years before getting married to a Korean-Canadian man in 2013 at the age of 24. After putting her activities on hold, she officially left the group in 2015. She spent the next 13 years focusing entirely on housework and childcare. She pointed out, “I’ve actually spent more time away from work than I did working.”

In 2021, Sunye decided to take the leap and officially returned to the entertainment industry through the show ‘Mama the Idol.’ She said she deeply related to the show’s concept of mothers reclaiming their careers after a long break and told herself, "Let's be brave."

A huge reason for her comeback was that she wanted to show her three daughters exactly what their mom is capable of. She shared, “I want them to naturally realize, ‘Oh, so this is the kind of work mom used to do.’ I also thought that seeing their mom take on a brand-new challenge would be a great life lesson for them.”

Today, Sunye is successfully balancing her family life as a mom of three girls while keeping her career in entertainment going strong.

Sunye opens up about early marriage and motherhood

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Aespa's Winter and Karina just had the most wholesome interaction during their guest appearance on the episode of JTBC's 'Please Take Care of My Refrigerator' that aired on the 5th.

In this episode, when the host brought up the 'SM look,' the two immediately pointed each other, insisting the other person was the perfect example of it. This quickly turned into a moment where they couldn't stop aggressively complimenting each other's visuals.

Karina started by saying, "Winter has the SM look," and added that Winter perfectly carries on the legendary visual lineage of older SM stars like Seo Hyunjin and Taeyeon.

Winter didn't agree at all, though. She quickly fired back, "No, I actually failed SM's auditions three times. Karina was cast through a DM." She added, "I was the one who chose SM, while Karina was chosen by SM."

This playful interaction left the hosts laughing and completely melted the hearts of fans. Whether they got into the company through a tough audition or a DM, they went on to become the perfect duo. Since making their debut with 'Black Mamba' in 2020, Aespa has completely taken over the music charts with hit after hit with songs like 'Next Level,' 'Drama,' 'Whiplash,' and more. 

Aespa's Winter and Karina debate who has the ultimate 'SM looks'